NO surprise that Keir Starmer won the Winter Fuel Payment vote with a whopping 120 majority, but this has been an exercise in bad politics.
It is also no surprise that there are big black holes in Britain’s finances. During the election campaign, in this space, we regularly repeated the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ warning that both Labour and Conservative were involved in a “conspiracy of silence” by not being honest with the electorate about the state of the public finances.
So we accept tough decisions have to be made.
We also accept that well-off pensioners should not be receiving this benefit as they do not need it. Labour is right to look at ending the universality of the payment.
But, as MP after MP from all sides of the House said yesterday, there are going to be pensioners on the margins who are going to lose the payment and who are going to struggle to heat their homes this winter.
Labour should have had a proper campaign to get people to sign up for pension credit, which makes them eligible for the payment, before withdrawing the allowance – this is putting the cart before the horse.
It should also have worked out a more sophisticated way of ensuring needy people get some help. At the moment, there is a cruel cliff edge over which not-especially-wealthy pensioners are going to plummet into a cold sea.
But the worst aspect of the politics for Labour is that the Tories – so soon after a thorough thrashing at the polls – have been granted the moral high ground. If they select a decent leader, one of their first attack lines will be on Labour taking from old people, and that is never a good look.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel